


Moonlit Revelations

by Erratus



Series: Rayllum Week 2019 [3]
Category: The Dragon Prince (Cartoon)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-13
Updated: 2019-05-26
Packaged: 2020-01-12 19:47:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,679
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18453392
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Erratus/pseuds/Erratus
Summary: For a brief moment, he didn’t register that it was Rayla. Instead all he saw was a beautiful woman covered in soft moonlight.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Continuing with Rayllum week. Today's prompt is moonlight. So enjoy.

The house was nice, quaint. Different from what he was use to in Katolis, but still pleasant. It didn’t help Callum feel at home though. He could hear the couple of sunfire elves whispering from the next room. Meanwhile a young sunfire girl peered at him from the hallway. He felt more like an intruder that a guest. If he looked at the girl's direction, she ran into a room terrified. So he didn’t. He kept his eyes trained on the curtains, closed tightly to prevent any peering eyes from looking in.

“And you really think it’s safe to bring that… _human_ into our home? With our children here?” The woman hissed.

“He’s just a child himself. And if what they claim is true...,” the man trailed off. 

“And if they lied? What if the moonshadow girl is just possessed with dark magic or something? And he is taking that poor baby dragon for dark magic? We can’t trust humans, you know that,” the woman shot back. Callum didn’t fight the small, bitter smile that crept across his face. Was this how Rayla felt? He remembered when they first met, how he thought she drank blood. How he told Amaya that she was a monster. In reality she was one of the best, kindest people he knew. Granted, she had the skills to slaughter an entire village, but she didn't have the heart to hurt a fly. Still, Callum mused, he would feel so much better if she was actually with him.

“I need to tend to the patient,” the man excused himself. “You should offer some food to our other guest,” he added before leaving the room. When he appeared in front of Callum, he was sure to put on a polite smile and pretend as though their walls weren’t so thin he could hear every muttered word.

“Thank you again for doing this,” Callum realized how lucky they got. Pretty much any elf would opt to kill him. He suspected it and Rayla agreed, they couldn’t trust anyone inside Xadia. But a cut on Rayla’s back had festered and got infected. She needed medical attention and that left a delicate matter of either revealing Callum to a doctor, or having him fend for himself and Zym in the woods. 

“Yes, well…,” his eyes moved from Callum’s face to Zym’s sleeping form on his lap. “Who am I to deny a couple of young princes on a peace mission?” He nodded, assuring himself he made the right decision. “But I need to tend to your friend.” He left the room and moved down the hallway. Callum shifted uncomfortably when the woman appeared. She didn’t say anything to him. He just realized with some surprise she was watching him from a doorway.

 

“You can have our food, if you care to eat it. I’m not sure what humans prefer to eat, but I don’t suppose we would have it.” She scowled. He slouched down in the chair. He weighed his options on how to approach her. He didn’t want to get revealed to the guards, or kicked out, or poisoned for that matter. He could see this woman doing any of the above.

“I can eat whatever you eat,” he tried to explain. He didn’t drink blood, he almost wanted to add as a joke to himself. “Me and Rayla have been sharing meals for a few months now,” he added. The woman’s eyes narrowed. Her dark hair glinted in the moonlight as she turned and left the room. Callum didn’t know if she was going to get food or just retreat from the monster that resided in her living room.

Out of the corner of his eye he saw the little girl stare at him again. This time she was accompanied with an older boy, probably just a few years younger than Ezran. 

To his mild surprise, they didn’t run he snuck a glance himself. Though they both seemed to stiffen.

“I’m not going to hurt you guys. Your parents are being very nice hosts,” he spoke softly, trying to assure them. The girl hugged her brother’s leg and whined. Callum smiled at the sight. They reminded him a lot of him and Ez when they were younger. There was rattling coming from the kitchen. Maybe the woman was preparing food? He glanced back to the hallway in a vain hope that the doctor would appear with news about Rayla.

There was no doctor or Rayla, but he was surprised to see the boy, sans the little girl, much closer to him.

“You’re a human, right?” His voice was meek, but Callum got the feeling that wasn’t normal for this kid. The question forced a smile out of him.

“Yeah, last time I checked,” Callum always liked kids. Not that he was much more than one himself. The boy crept closer to Callum and within moments they were right next to each other. They both seemed to take the moment to study each other. Callum hadn’t ever really seen a Sunfire elf up close. It was always either from a distance, or while running for his life. The boy had dark skin, black hair, and eyes that were a shocking golden color. He had golden lines running down his face from them. His ears seemed particularly long too, longer than Rayla’s anyway. 

The boy stepped closer until his face was right next to Callum’s hand. Ah yes, hands. The boy of course had four fingers, a point of interest Callum had when he first started studying Rayla. Callum humored him by presenting both his hands, palms up, and counting off his fingers.

“You know, where I’m from, everyone has five fingers. I thought Rayla’s hands looked so weird with only four,” Callum carried on the conversation.

“Your hands look silly. Does the extra finger ever get in the way,” the boy asked curiously.

“Nope,” Callum shook his head. “But I guess we don’t really need it for anything. Rayla had eight fingers and she can beat me up, easy.” The boy smiled, seemingly getting comfortable around Callum. He begun playing with Callum’s fingers, which Callum allowed. It was nice, just relaxing. The differences between humans and elves really weren’t that large. The little girl appeared by the boy’s side soon enough. She instead honed in on Callum’s ears.

“Your ears are so tiny. Can you hear with them,” she asked. She was younger, maybe five or six years old.

“I can hear well enough. Though I think elves do hear better. Rayla is always hearing stuff way before I do.” The little girl had climbed up the side of the chair and reached for his ears. Callum didn’t protest right away but he found the touches to be too ticklish for him.

“Hey, that tickles,” He shook his head, giggling a bit. Both the kids looked at him curiously.

“Humans are ticklish too?” the girl seemed to vocalize the question they both had.

“Of course we are. We really aren’t that much different from elves,” Callum explained. He was still getting over how elves viewed humans as the monsters in Xadia.

“Tekyn, Mekyn, get away from him _right now_ ,” The mother’s panicked voiced rang through the room. She sounded like they were playing with a banther, but they just looked at her with sad eyes. Callum decided to intervene before the women came at him with murderous intent.

“Listen to your mother,” he said to shoo them away. He shifted away from them, disturbing Zym’s sleep next to him. Why they chose to study him over a dragon was still confusing.

The woman had a plate of what looked like various types of fruits and crackers. Callum looked over curiously, interested in trying the foreign food. 

“We don’t know if he is safe,” she whispered to her kids. Not really whispered, as Callum could easily hear. He wondered if they thought he had bad hearing, or if she just didn’t care. The plate of food was presented in from of him. There seemed to be some kind of sandwich, cut fruits, maybe berries, and some cheese and crackers.

“You should try the pimnims, they are the best part,”the boy opened his sandwich and pulled out a slice of red. Callum couldn’t tell if it was some kind of meat, or maybe a roasted vegetable. 

“I think I should eat it how your mother made it,” Callum politely bit into his sandwich. It was very flavorful. It hit a lot of notes, some of them too strongly for Callum’s taste. Still, he happily ate it all. It was the first real meal he’s had in months.

“Take a couple of plates to your friend and my husband, would you?” the woman asked. Callum got the feeling she just wanted him away from her children. He knew not to push her though. Wordlessly he took two plates and brought them down the hallway. He stopped in front of the door the doctor entered and shifted the plates around to knock. Within moments the doctor appeared.

“Oh, you have food,” he looked at the plates hungerly. He didn't wait for permission to take one. “Go on in, your friend is doing well. I want her to stay a few days to make sure the infection dies down, but it’s just a precaution.” He walked away without giving him a chance to respond. He was probably exhausted from dealing with Rayla. Callum knew first hand she can be fussy when she’s hurt.

“Rayla,” he announced himself entering the room. It was a foreign dynamic for them to have designated rooms and he felt like he was invading her privacy. His eyes scanned the dim room and found a figure by the window. He stopped in his tracks.

For a brief moment, he didn’t register that it was Rayla. Instead all he saw was a beautiful woman covered in soft moonlight. Her blades were gone as well as her regular attire. Instead she was dressed in a white, simple gown. It wasn’t scandalous, but it did show curves that Callum hadn’t picked up on before. More than anything, it made a simple thought strike him. Rayla was a _girl_. Of course he always knew that on a rational level. But somehow the idea that he was camping out alone with a girl for the last month escaped him. 

“So is that food for me, or do I just get to look at it?” Her words knocked him out of his stupor. He still couldn’t fight the blush on his face. He found himself looking everywhere but at this new moonlight soaked woman.

“Ah, yeah, sorry. I’ll just put it here.” He found a table to rest the last plate on “I’ll just let you rest-” he tried to leave the room but Rayla wasn’t having it.

“What, you aren’t going to ask me how I’m doing?” Her voice was thick with amusement. He forced himself to look at her. His heart hammered in his chest and his blush deepened. She just look so… Intimate? Private? Exposed? Beautiful. He kept going back to that word. Beautiful.

“Right, sorry. How are you feeling?” He tried to still his beating heart. It’s just Rayla, after all.

“Better, but it's still sore,” she started to roll her shoulders causing her chest to puff out and her back to arch. The thin gown twisted with her, pulling taunt in some parts and clinging to her body. Callum knew he was staring. He knew he should look away. But he just couldn't. His eyes moved across hey body, putting every detail to memory. Would she be mad if he drew her later?

“That's good. The doctor said we should stay for a few days,” he managed to say but still couldn't pull his eyes away from her. They settled on her face. Her long hair seemed to glow silver where it caught the moonlight. Dark horns interrupted the white strands, extending and curving away from her hair. Her face was soft and pale, broken by the dark purple strip. And Stars above, how had he never noticed those eyes before? A smile was spread across her face, one that he couldn't quite place. A mix of amusement, mischief, and pride. Did she realize what she was doing to him? What _was_ she doing to him?

“I don't know if I would want to stay that long,” she snorted at the idea. She really was just Rayla. “Probably should leave tomorrow.”

Callum hummed, not sure what to say. His mind wasn't willing to stay on the topic of the conversation. Instead he just watched her from her spot in the moonlight. Her expression had changed, dropping it's humorous tints. Instead her eyes were passionate, smoldering. Silence fell on them but neither could be bothered to be embarrassed. Finally Callum pulled himself out of the trance.

“We should go to sleep,” he stated. 

“Yeah,” was her only reply. Contemplation flickered across her face, but he didn't give her the chance to act on it. He was gone from the room within a second. He didn't know what exactly that was, but it was definitely something, and he didn't think he was ready to explore it.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You all thought that I ended it too soon, and I had to agree. So here's a follow-up with more of an end.

Rayla watched Callum discretely out the corner of her eye. Though she didn’t need to be discrete about it. He was looking anywhere and everywhere but in her direction. They were on the road again. The doctor wanted her to stay, but of course she didn’t. She couldn’t sacrifice the time. Though she was very grateful for what he did, and everything that came out of it.

She liked Callum. And not like a friend either. She had come to admit it to herself. But she also realized that he didn’t think the same way about her. He liked Claudia. It was obvious in the way he looked at her and acted around her. It hurt, but she accept that it would never happen between them. He just didn’t look at her like he Claudia.

Until last night. Last night, when he delivered her food he gawked at her. He was never the picture of grace or eloquence, but he was down right pitiful then. He stammered and switched between staring hard and avoiding looking at her. And if it had been anyone but Callum, she would have swiftly reminded them that she was a warrior first and a woman second.

But it was Callum. Sweet and bumbling, looking at her just like he did Claudia. And it left her confused. Rather, it left her wrestling with hope. Maybe he did like her in that way. Maybe he just never realized before then. Maybe he was just a teenage boy and she was looking too deep into it.

He stumbled over a root because he refused to look ahead. She was in front of him and Moon forbid he look at her. She needed to talk to him. Though, as she look at his blushing face and wide eyes planted on the ground, she had a better idea. A crueler idea.

“Let’s take a break,” she said, rolling her shoulder. The cut still hurt, but it was well within her pain tolerance. Callum didn’t need to know that.

“Oh, um, Okay. Yeah. Let’s do that,” he turned and almost ran into a tree. She chuckled at how cute he was being. Maybe it was her outfit. She generally liked to keep her armor on, in case of a surprise attack. But that might be her romantic downfall.

“My shoulder's still aching. Mind helping me out of my armor,” she turned to look at him. She tried to give a cute face, but had no idea if it was a success. Callum blushed and squirmed and seemed all around terrified on the thought. 

“I, um. Er, maybe. I mean, yeah. Totally. Definitely. Why not?” He rambled and she just twisted to expose the buckles to her armor. She fought the grin at his expression. She didn’t think he could get anymore awkward and cute, and yet there they were.

“If you’re trying to undo them with your eyes, you might be waiting a while,” she teased. He stiffened and crept forward.

“H-how do I…” he asked as he laid hands on her side.

“They’re just buckles. I’ve seen you work buckles before,” she gave up on fighting her grin. He made a sound, a cross between a hum and a whimper. His hands shook and she could practically hear his pulse, but his fingers still obeyed. They worked the leather straps free and her chest armor loosened. She shook it off and it fell to the ground. Her shirt underneath was a simple tank top. It gave modesty without causing her to overheat with the armor on. It was functional, and that’s what it always was. But, she supposed, it also showed off toned muscles and all the curves her body had to offer. Which was, admittedly, less than what Claudia had.

“Thanks Cal,” she never referred to him as that before but it seemed right. She stretched again and ran a hand through her hair. It did feel good to stretch and let her cut breath, but judging by Callum’s face, it served another purpose too. He was back to staring in awe at her. She loved that look. Only from him, but she found herself craving it.

Her hand hit her horn as she combed it through her hair. She winced. No doubt horns weren’t attractive to Callum. And her missing digits probably weren’t much better either. Suddenly self conscious she tucked her hands behind her. Not much to do with her horns though. Why did she think that Callum liked her? She was probably just being weird and stupid.

She looked back to the boy, and he was looking at the ground. The blush was still there. It seemed to make a permanent home on his face. She frowned and looked down. What was she doing?

“You’re really pretty Rayla,” he blurted out. His words seemed to surprise both of them.

“Er, thanks?” She kicked herself. That was exactly what she wanted to hear, but she just had no idea how to respond.

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said that. Pretend that I didn't?” He dared to look up at her, even if just briefly. His green eyes darted back to the forest floor as soon as they found hers. She frowned. This was perfect and she was ruining the moment.

“You’re not too hard on the eyes either,” she tried to laugh, but it was obvious how forced it was. He gave his own fake laugh. The moment was turning more and more awkward and she struggled to fix it. “I mean it though. You… I…” She was fumbling for words. He cocked a head at her, seemingly genuinely interested. But words were still eluding her.

"You look good, for a human anyway," she grumbled and looked away. That wasn't what she wanted to say. Callum's face fell a bit. Mostly he seemed confused.

"Well, I think you look pretty, period," he said with indignation. "By elf standards or human standards." Her heart fluttered. His words pulled the insecurities out of her mouth.

"Even my horns? My hands? My skin?" She tried to make it seem like a joke but she's couldn't. The vulnerability was plain as day. Callum didn't back down though.

"Yeah, of course. Especially your horns," he blurted out, but immediately looked awkward. Rayla idly read a hand over one.

"You like my horns?" She would think he was lying to make her feel better if not for how candid he sounded.

"Yeah? I hope that is okay,” he seemed torn between being confident or ashamed of his admission. Rayla shook her head, trying to put her thoughts into words.

“Shouldn’t you like other girls? The type without horns,” Rayla suggested. She was hoping for him to spring up and assure her that he loves her elf features. Instead she seemed to deflate him. He plopped down on a log and rubbed his face.

“Maybe you’re right. It’s weird. I’m sorry, can we just… pretend I never said that?” He turned to look at her. A frown was deep on his face and shame filled his eyes. Rayla gulped. This was the moment she needed, and it turned into her rejecting him. She had to fix it.

“It’s not weird,” she quickly added. “I like your flat skull. And your pinkos and weird colored skin. Nothing wrong with that." A smile pulled on his lips at her words.

"I like your horns. They look beautiful. And your hands are easier to draw," he said with a chuckle but his eyes were warm. She returned it and took a deep breath, preparing herself for her next move.

"I like your hair," she said see she scooted next to him. She rested a hand on his cheek and her finger tips explored the strands of his hair. He blushed deeply but didn't move away. She knew her face wasn't any better.

"Your ears are also cute," she said as she leaned in. She was close enough for him to feel her breath on her cheek.

"Y-yeah, elf ears are just a lot more aesthetically pleasing," he muttered and she smiled.

"And I like the pink in your skin," she murmured before finally bringing her lips to his cheek. He made a small, surprised sound. When she pulled back he was grinning like fool. It was enough of an answer to her unspoken question.

Callum's hand shuffled in the forest floor, searching for hers. As soon as he found it their fingers interlocked.

"I love your eyes," he said. "Though I'm not sure if that's an elf thing," he added.

"I've known elves with green eyes, but I still like yours more," she pressed her forehead to his.

"I love you," he mumbled and pressed his lips to hers. She happily reciprocated.


End file.
